​ NIKOLAYEVSKAYA, SLOBODA, a town of Russia in the government of Astrakhan, 3 m. from the left bank of the Volga, opposite Kamyshin, and 110 m. N. of Tsaritsyn. Pop. (1897) 20,000. It dates from the end of the 18th century, when a number of Little Russians settled there for the transport of salt from Lake Elton. It is one of the chief centres on the lower Volga for the trade in corn and salt.